So Simple
by Riku of Darkness
Summary: Rilenneku: We'd pass each other every day, same class with nothing between us to say. Why couldn't we see it from the start? That we two are bound at the heart?


Well, I did it. I finally realized the best thing I could have written for **_Zanisha_**. I know I already wrote her a birthday fic thingy, but that one was immediately written in the spot--

**Riku:** And what did you do with this one? Started at 9:30, and it's what, 1:05 am now?

(_Throws swatter at Riku_) Shut up! I thought this one up last night, but I wrote it tonight. I thought it up at work, which explains why a '_Me and my Muse_' script is included. The swatter? Halfway through my story, a centipede came running across the carpet and scared the hell outta me. My oh-so-brave Muse ran screaming from the room.

**Riku:** Hey!

Well, you did! Anyways, if my constant reviewers want b-day fics too, make sure to inform me (unlike Zanisha, whose personal message on MSN tipped me off the day prior) and I'll try and write something for you too.

**Dedication:** Zanisha. I know you love _Rilenneku_, therefore, I thought I'd spoil you with one.It'skinda inspired by your: 'F... off Shuyin, I'm Riku's Bitch now!'

n-n Enjoy!

**_-_**

_We knew each other for the longest time; looking back seems so sublime. We'd pass each other every day, same class with nothing between us to say. Why couldn't we see it from the start? That we two are bound at the heart?_

* * *

_**So Simple**_

* * *

They were from two different worlds. They always had been. To an outside observer, the difference didn't seem so clear. Both were very attractive and at first glance, popular. In the latter category, however, only she remained. He could easily have been admitted into the category, his charm and appearance easily making the quota. But that just wasn't the real him.

He knew that their worlds were completely different too. And up until about a week ago, he probably wouldn't have thought anything on it. He hadn't before, never realizing anything past his own personal obsessions. But now he found himself unable to think about anything else but her voice. It floated around him everyday as though favoured by the wind. Its gentle touch caressed his ears whenever his defenses dropped for one moment. He found himself whispering her name, something he began to feel he'd never do for anyone…ever…

**_-_**

"…He looks at me…but he has no eyes, no face, no expression to reveal to me his feelings--"

"Then how the hell do you know anything past your flippant IQ?" The silver-haired teenager didn't remove his eyes from his paper, ignoring the standard jeers that his stories and ideas always received when he presented them out loud. He wasn't embarrassed or affected by the 'popular taunts' anymore; he knew people like **_them_** could never understand his heart. He continued reading as though those voices and laughter were nothing but leaves in the wind.

"—And yet, I can feel such sadness within his shaded form. Although he cannot speak, I can hear his broken and fading wish fall into my heart." He let his paper flutter to the floor, speaking these words as though he had rehearsed them a thousand times in the hallway before class.

"'All I want is to be free. Everyone one else looks at me as though I'm the luckiest thing in the world, that I have everything I could ever want. I can move, explore, see things that many others never get to see. But they don't understand, and I can tell by your eyes that you don't either…'" His hand drifted out in front of him as though he were offering it out for someone in the class to accept an offer to dance. He hadn't realized the irony of whom his hand accidentally aimed at, but the thought would never occur in his thoughts.

"'No one seems to understand that--'" His hair dropped in front of his eyes, casting his attractive face into darkness. "'—I'm still only your shadow…'" His hand fell back to his side, though his face stayed the same. He could hear his teacher commence the standard clapping for the end of presentations. But he let the noise slide over his ears without a second thought. He knew none of them really cared. Nothing but mindless courtesy.

"Well, Riku, you've certainly outdone yourself this time."

"Yeah, he's just proven that even nerds have more cool factor than him. Emotional shadows, hah! Get real!" The laughter came again, dancing around the room like toxic gas. He refused to acknowledge such a comment though, keeping his eyes where they had fallen. He knew people like **_them_** didn't deserve it.

"Yes, that will be quite enough out of you, Shuyin. The class doesn't need to hear your 55 percent remarks." The class seemed to get a rise out of their teacher's wit, displaying their easily distracted attention to Riku's ears. It was the same thing every time.

"Now class, does anyone with a decent opinion to offer to Riku's short story: 'Scattered'?" He would never have expected what happened next. Even on his dying breath, he would have whispered that it was the biggest shock of his life. It awakened his heart.

"I thought it was a beautiful piece of writing, not unlike anything Riku usually does." His aquamarine vision finally snapped up, staring in a lost fog at the owner of that voice.

"The way he expresses his emotion and complications is very heart-breaking. I never would have thought about how lonely it must feel to always be nothing but a clone of someone else…" A small flush hit her cheeks. "Even if I was just a shadow." He couldn't even comprehend how he must have been looking at her that very moment. His heart had never felt so ruffled before, by anyone. He'd always been able to stand so strong out there all alone---his image felt so shattered.

"Thank you, Lenne. It's nice to see that some people around here actually appreciate good writing." He knew their eyes met before the dismissal bell obnoxiously broke that special moment. He felt so exposed beneath her delicate sienna gaze, as though her beautiful eyes found the one thing that no one else cared to search for…the path to his heart. That connection was easily broken though as she was pulled from his world and back into the one where she belonged.

"Let's go, Lenne. Quickly before you start running a fever." He arrogantly tipped his head towards the silver youth who was still standing at the front of the room. He didn't look at him though, refusing to show any form of couth. "You're already delusional if you're complimenting the silver dreamer."

"Knock it off, Shuyin." She quickly gathered her books with a frustrated flush in her cheeks. "Not like it would kill you to wait." Another chorus of snickers drowned out what little Riku had felt at that moment as he blankly picked up his paper and returned to his desk. His aqua eyes betrayed him and glanced at her sporadically beneath his silver strands and followed her exit from the classroom. He felt a strange loneliness that he never had before. A pain in his heart that was too sharp to ignore.

'We're from completely different worlds… Paths that will never cross… Never meant to cross…' His body felt so heavy as he moved from the classroom to his locker. 'Then why did it feel like there was a thread gingerly weaving our hearts together?' He slammed his locker door in irritation. 'Don't be stupid. She was just complimenting you to be nice.' He glanced distantly out the window as he walked towards the school exit. 'But she never did before. And it didn't feel like she was 'just being nice'…' He felt his body absentmindedly flop onto the nearest bench on the pathway to the school. His stunning aquamarines stared blankly at the sky.

_I don't think life is quite that simple…_

**_-_**

He would sit there, on that bench every day since his 'Scattered' reading. He would always be waiting for her to come out, trying stupidly to think of something to say to her. He would always work himself up to begin with a simple 'thank you' and then attempt something from there. But every time he saw her exit the door of the school, he would quickly throw his writing pad up in front of his face and endeavor awkwardly to look like he was too busy on some new project to realize she was there. It didn't matter if she was alone or with her mocking posse, he just couldn't scrape together any guts to verbally state anything to the one who appreciated his work.

He was always so quick to give into needless fear to realize the distant and longing look in her cinnamon eyes. She didn't know what to make of his constant being on the bench after school every day, but she knew it had to be a sign. She knew she finally had a chance to talk to him personally…something she'd longed to do for so long. Problem was…

_She felt trapped…held prisoner in a world that she felt only faintly connected to. She wanted to be accepted into his world, but…the door always felt so frightening whenever she tried to approach it. She didn't know how to open it—no handle or lock… All she could do was gingerly lay her hand on the wood, hoping someone on the other side would feel her heart…_

**_-_**

It had happened again that day. He'd tried so hard to burst out some kind of utterance, but his hands were quicker than his heart and he began writing furiously as she let the heavy door close behind her. She walked slowly down the steps and continued simply down the path and towards home. The moment she had left his sight, his body fell victim to a stabbing sigh as he stared numbly at his scrawled page, a sweatdrop cascading down his nape.

"Nice to know your spine checked itself at the door, right on schedule too. Yeesh…" He flipped to a new page glumly, slowly attempting to edit anything he had just scribbled onto the previous page. He worked in silence, his heart beating dully against his sternum. It was hypnotic for him now, providing him with a white noise effect that kept his mind focused…very focused…

"What are you working on now?" His notebook flew in one direction and his pen in another as his lungs emptied at a voice suddenly appearing by his ear. He had probably jumped higher than humanly possible as his hand clasped his chest in an attempt to calm his now pounding heart. He stared at the culprit in shock. Her laugh sounded like raindrops upon a calm brook as she gingerly picked up his notebook from the ground. He swallowed back a growing lump as her beautiful eyes scanned over his new page of writing.

"'Her heart is slipping away from me, like the grains of sand upon the ocean wind. I try so hard to gather every piece of her, but I keep losing more than I'm fighting so hard to keep. My heart feels like it's slipping into a void of hopelessness, but it's only there that I realize--'" Her light-speckled eyes looked to him gently.

"You realize what?" He looked away, a burning flush claiming his cheeks. He childishly stuffed his hands into his pockets, a pout of embarrassment moulding his lips.

"N-Nothing… I was just playing around with--" She walked around from behind the bench, slowly approaching him with a curiosity that he couldn't place.

"You weren't 'just playing around' when you were writing, otherwise you wouldn't have been so startled." His blush deepened, particularly when that space between them narrowed to a gap. His eyes turned back to hers, that connection beginning to form between them again. "What does your heart realize?"

"That there's only one grain out there that truly represents her heart. That trying to keep all of them is a delusional and pointless effort since…I risk losing her heart by trying." He took a step back as his one hand rubbed the back of his head nervously, an awkward laugh claiming his voice.

"Heh heh… I know… Sounds really corny, right?" Her eyes dove deeply into his, swimming past his foolish defenses and intensely grasping his heart. Her hand offered his notebook back to him, a touched expression brushing over her face.

"No… It's really beautiful…" The cursed colour labeled red threatened her cheeks as he gently accepted his book from her. It was an expected gesture, but it jolted her heart. After a pause, she stepped backwards and sat softly upon that bench. "How do you do it, Riku? How does your imagination reach such heights?"

"Uh…uh…I dunno… It's…um… leash is broken?" Her gentle laugh felt so caressing as it claimed his heart. He'd never felt this way about anyone before.

"…I'm serious. Your writing is so pretty and you're always so full of such amazing ideas!" Her shoulders slumped slightly as her gaze fell softly to the ground. "I wish I could be as poetic and free as you." He slowly sat down beside her, his aquamarine gaze refusing to leave her entity.

"But you are---your songs easily best anything I've ever written." Her cheeks felt so warm that she didn't dare look at him for a response. At the moment, her long hair was shielding her cheeks protectively, but if she moved, that barrier would easily break.

"And as far as being free, you're better off than me. Only thing I ever receive from others is criticism…" His tongue tripped stupidly over itself. "Ex-Except from you…I mean…"

"You like my songs…?"

"Y-Yeah… They're so passionate and…they inspire me." His blush deepened; he couldn't help it. He wasn't lying either. It's true that he never truly 'noticed' her before, but he always loved her songs whenever she performed.

"How come you never said anything before now…?" He shrugged awkwardly, knowing he had no real excuse.

"I could ask you the same about my writing." He glanced off to a cloud in the crisp, blue sky. "I guess I've always felt like we exist in two different worlds and…yours wouldn't want to hear anything from mine anyways…" She nodded slowly, finally bringing her eyes to him and shifting in order to look at him face-on. He unconsciously did the same.

"Yeah. I was kinda thinking the same thing." It happened so fast that neither side could make any sense of it. Neither was certain who started it nor who finished it, but either way, the soft touch of the other's lips was the key that they both so desperately sought. Both were shaking, though he managed to hide it a little better than she did.

"I—I'm sorry… W-Why…? N-No… You first…" Their simultaneous lines almost made both sides collapse into fruitless laughter. They felt so happy and carefree that for a brief moment, the question almost fell away to the wind. Riku collected himself faster.

"Well, it's just I…thought…you and Shuyin…" She laughed shakily into the back of her hand, barely able to look him in the eyes.

"N-No… I've known him forever, and even though part of me says: 'Go for it. No one else is asking'…" Her voice softened as her gaze deepened into his again. "But the rest of me says: 'He's just not your type'…"

"Wh-What is your type?"

"Hold it, writer boy. You have to answer my 'why' this time." Her fuss made his heart tingle. He'd never realized just how pretty she was, especially with the delicate sun just glazing her cheeks in playful irritation.

"How come you don't have a girlfriend? I-I mean, not to be pushy or anything, but…" Her cheeks lit aflame. "You're really cute and charismatic and could easily have anyone, I'm sure. S-S-So, how come you don't?" His light laugh made her tremble; how could she have been so blind to her feelings?

"Because no one has ever been interested in my heart before. My ideas are 'too out there' or my work isn't a subject of interest." Their connection felt so deep at that moment, the forces of gravity conquering the two wayward hearts. "I don't want to be taken at face value."

"Same here…" His palm cupped her cheek longingly, as his fingers gently entered her chestnut hair. He started it this time, tenderly expressing his affection in a way his prose never could. She accepted, her heart crying with joy as that door finally opened and welcomed her within, his hand once again extending its offer to hers.

…_Maybe some things are that simple…_

* * *

(_Pre-story setting. Author has hair in ponytail, sitting in her computer chair, facing the rest of the room. She has a clipboard and pens all around. One pen is dangling from her lips while two more are criss-crossed beneath the elastic in her ponytail. Riku and Lenne are standing by the wall; Lenne looks solemn as she waits, but Riku is looking like his usually angsty self. His arms are crossed and he's somewhat pouting_)

**Author:** (_Takes pen from lips and holds it in the ready position_) All right, you two. This is a gift story for Zanisha and I want it to be great. Okay, I want to see the bench scene first in order to inspire how Riku suddenly realizes that there could be something between the two of you.

**Lenne:** Sure, no problem.

**Riku:** No.

**Author:** (_Sweatdrop_) What do you mean, no?

**Riku:** I don't wanna do gift fics anymore. These pairings are getting so out there.

**Author:** (_Vein pulse_) Prima Donna time… (_Lenne crosses her arms now, staring impatiently at Riku_)

**Riku:** I mean it. (_Steps forwards and unfolds arms, throwing the left one back arrogantly towards Lenne_) I don't want to do another random match-up story!

**Lenne:** Fine, whatever. I'm outta here. (_Exits_)

**Author:** Hold on! Lenne, wait a second!

**Riku: **Why am I always being put in strange pairings or representing other people in stories? (_Author places fingers on right hand to respective temple, trying to control her anger_) When can I go out there and find someone I want to be paired with? How come I can't choose my love interest?

**Author:** (**_Pulse…Pulse_**) Because I want to do a story for Zanisha…

**Riku:** But _**I**_ want—

**Author:** (_Snaps_) You know what! You're right! You're absolutely right, Riku! I've been doing you such disfavour by putting you in so many random **_het_** pairings!

**Riku:** (_Face tightens_) Wait…where are you going with—

**Author:** Thank you so much for opening my eyes! God knows I'm behind on my _shounen-ai_ writing!

**Riku:** (_Sweating profusely, really nervous_) Now wait a second…

**Author:** So where would you like to start, huh? (_Riku stutters a little_) What's that? RikuxAnsem, you say? (_Riku freezes_) Not a bad suggestion!

**Riku:** (_Freaking, begging on his knees_) No! Wait! I take it back—I'll do whatever you want!

**Author:** (_Whipping around and beginning to write_) No, no--you've committed yourself now, buddy. What's the rating for this one going to be? M?

**Riku:** (_Runs out of room, yelling_) Lenne? Lenne! Come back, we have a scene to do! I'll be your servant for a week! Two weeks! Please come back! Lennnnnnnnnnne!

(_Once Riku runs off, Author places pen down and turns around in her chair, facing the room as she was originally. Only now, she is facing Ansem_)

**Author:** What do you want?

**Ansem:** Why is it you're constantly trying to set him and me up?

**Author:** (_Smirks_) Well, God knows you get bored with the Heartless after a while.

**Ansem: (**_Sweatdrop with quasi-glare_) You're not funny.

**Author:** (_Crosses arms and blinks_) And _you're_ not straight.

**Ansem:** Har har… (_Author lifts up right arm and draws a jagged line through the air without a break in expression. Ansem glares again before disappearing_)


End file.
